9 Easy Tips for Perfect Compost

**Disclaimer: This post may include affiliate links, which means we receive a small commission if you buy through the link on our website (at no additional cost to you). Using our affiliate links helps support our blog, which means we can provide you more content that you love.

Shortly after graduating college I moved overseas to Denmark to be with my (now) husband. While I was in college, the concept of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle was all the rage even though it was not widely practiced. Things were very different when I moved to Denmark. It seemed that everyone sorted their trash and recycled what they could. Even living in an apartment in the city everyone sorted…organic waste was collected in a green plastic bag and sent down a special garbage chute. This was collected by the city and burned in a special processing plant creating heat for the buildings, including the one we lived in.

A few years later, we moved to a small row house since we were expecting our first child and needed a bit more space. While we no longer had a special garbage pick up for our green waste, we did have other expectations from the city. Each household was provided with, by American standards, a small garbage can and sack. Whereas in the States we are used to filling a 60 gallon trash bag (or more) each week, in Denmark we were allotted a (approximately) 35 gallon bag for your trash can. They even print a fill line on them, and if we overfilled the garbage bag we risked having our garbage left behind by the waste collector.

While things may have changed in the 20 plus years we’ve been back Stateside, it was quite a shock for me back then since we were only allotted the one bag that was picked up once per week…regardless of the size of your family. This meant that as we grew from a family of two to a family of four…with one constantly in diapers…we needed to find an alternate route for some of our garbage. Enter composting. (P.S. The Danes don’t have garbage disposals! So offloading all our kitchen scraps down the drain was not an option.)

Thanks to those early days in Denmark, we’ve had some form of backyard compost bin since roughly 1997 when we also started our first kitchen garden. The compost bin provided a convenient way to dispose of the kitchen scraps, as well as yard waste, while also reducing the need for fertilizers for the garden. A winning combination in my mind!

Backyard Composting

There are three basic types of composting – worm composting (also known as vermiculture or vermicomposting), anaerobic, and aerobic composting. Anaerobic composting is what happens when large amounts of waste are piled up, and often compacted to the point of excluding oxygen. Anaerobic compost piles give off methane gas, and can be quite unpleasant to be around…just think of the wonderful smells you experience when driving by a landfill! On the flip side, aerobic composting occurs when the compost pile is regularly aerated, or fluffed up, creating air pockets where oxygen can be accessed by the microbes.

Here at the Suburban Farmhouse we actively manage both a vermiculture bin and an aerobic bin. Today though we’ll focus on the aerobic composting bin and how we manage it.

To Bin, or Not to Bin

One of the first questions to ask yourself when starting to compost is where are you going to put it. You will need an outdoor collection location as well as an indoor collection bin.

When considering the outdoor location, if you have the space you can simply start a pile on the ground without any kind of container. However, most people don’t have that kind of space, nor do they want a pile of decomposing food and yard waste to be visible during their summer grill party. Manufacturers recognize this and as a result there are about as many backyard compost bin options as there are composting households.

I like to have the compost contained so we’ve always used some form of bin. Through the years I’ve used wood bins, plastic bins, square bins, round bins, upright bins, and tumbler bins. Honestly, I’ve liked them all…but some more than others.

Things to Consider

Amount of space
Amount of waste to be regularly composted
How actively you want to manage it
How easy is it to empty the compost bin to remove the finished compost

When we first started composting in Denmark, we had a slatted wood box, pretty similar to the one we use now. It was easy to set up, blended in with the landscape, and easy to reach into in order to aerate the compost. Sadly, we had to leave it behind when we moved to Wisconsin.

Our first compost bin in Wisconsin was a large black compost bin with a square lid and a door at the bottom for removing the finished compost. It sat in a shady area at the back of the yard, and worked it’s magic. Our yard and garden were smaller then and it was the perfect size for what we needed. The dark color helped to trap heat and keep the compost warm, the lid provided easy access for aerating and adding waste, and the door made emptying relatively easy. When we moved to our current home it came with us.

As our garden and family grew we added a second composter to the yard. This one was a tumble composter similar to this Envirocycle Composter (and no I would never pay $300 for a compost bin!). We like the idea of collecting the compost tea along with the compost. The idea is to load up the barrel, give it a good spin to aerate the compost, and as the organic waste decomposes the liquid drains into the base. As the base fills up you remove the barrel, empty the base into a bucket and use the compost tea to water your plants. The finished compost is emptied from the barrel over time and added to the garden. We quickly learned this was more of a mess than we were willing to deal with. It was also rather difficult to empty. The most efficient way we found was to pick up the barrel and shake the contents out. And it stank. So, as a result we stopped using it and the bin simply sat around until we finally donated it to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore.

Still dreaming of the wood bin we had back in Denmark, I came across this lovely wood bin at Home Depot. This was perfect for what I was looking to do. The base model comes with everything you need for one box. With the add-on kits you can extend the system to include as many boxes as you want. I decided to start with a total of two boxes. This way I could have one box for active composting in, one box for turning the compost into (aerating it), and then use the black bin for storing the finished compost.

We bought the system about three years ago, and started by painstakingly staining all the pieces. While not truly necessary, it did help blend it into the yard a bit more. The first couple of years we simply used it to throw all our fall yard waste into, and pulled out whatever finished compost was available at the end of the season. While I had hoped to do more with it, I simply let life get in the way. Then Covid hit. With a bit more time on my hands thanks to the shortened office commute, I decided it was time to up my composting game.

First I needed to shift some things around, so I enlisted help in the form of my husband. We started by emptying the two wood compost bins near the vegetable garden, sifting and saving the finished compost in a wheelbarrow. The larger unfinished compost we consolidated into one side of the wood system. Any larger pieces of wood or straw we set aside. Once the wood bins were taken care of, we emptied the black compost bin which was living near the house in the herb garden. Its contents received the same treatment through the sifter, with the unfinished compost added to the rapidly filling wooden bin.

Second, we placed the black bin next to the wood bins out by the vegetable garden, and emptied the finished compost into it. This would now be our container for finished compost moving forward. We were quite surprised by how much finished compost we already had, and we were just getting started!

Finally, I needed a spot to put all the excess brown yard waste until I could work it into the primary compost bin. Brown yard waste is simply all the dead plant material collected from pruning and spring cleanup. I didn’t want to spend any money on a new compost bin, so when I discovered three cinder blocks hiding behind the compost bins, I combined them with a few long logs from the firewood pile and created a makeshift corral for the fruits for my next compost related project.

In order to deal with all of the twigs, straw, small branches, and other larger items from our spring cleanup, I decided to break out the wood chipper. Ideally for composting you want to break down larger items to provide more surface area for the microorganisms to access and do their job. So running these through the chipper was perfect. We had accumulated so much stuff that it took me most of the afternoon to chip up everything we had at that point. I also ended up filling the (formerly) empty side of the wood compost bins as well as the makeshift bin.

Now that I had plenty of brown material, I needed more green. Most of our green waste comes from our kitchen scraps. We have a small lidded bucket from Ikea that lives under our sink. I love the little Hallbar bin because it comes with a lid, is stackable, discreet, and best of all is dishwasher safe. We used to have a larger bin in the kitchen which barely fit into the dishwasher and truly was too big. What I mean is that it took so long to fill that it often started to stink by the time we emptied it. The Hallbar bin is big enough to collect a couple day’s worth of scraps, but not so big that the contents start to stink before we get it emptied. Now that the kids are grown, this is super important since my husband and I don’t create nearly the amount of kitchen scraps that we did as a family of five.

Know Your Colors

I’ve mentioned brown and green materials for the compost bins a couple of times now, but what exactly do I mean by that?

Brown materials are any plant materials that have died. These provide carbon to the compost, and are often drier so they act to absorb the excess moisture often found in the green waste. The browns will also provide bulk to the pile which can help trap air allowing for more aerobic decomposition. Aerobic decomposition is a lot faster than anaerobic decomposition, and a lot less smelly! That said, too much brown in relation to the green material will cool off the pile, dry it out, and slow down the decomposition.

Green materials include any living or high nitrogen waste. These often include kitchen scraps and lawn trimmings. They provide moisture to the pile and help it to heat up. Too much of this in relation to the brown material can cause the pile to clump together and become a soggy stinking (anaerobic) mess. Decomposition will still occur, but will be much slower than even the overly brown pile will be.

As I was restructuring our compost this spring, I noticed that our compost pile was rather dry with white powder in spots. I had the perfect conditions to grow mycelium, a fungus whose job is to break down organic material. What I didn’t have was the perfect environment for the lightning fast decomposition I was looking for. What I needed was more green material to help heat things up and jump start my pile. I also noticed that my pile was rather dry, so more water was needed.

The ideal compost pile will include 3 parts brown material to every one part green material, and will be about as damp as a well wrung out sponge. In order to fix the balance in my compost pile I grabbed the lawn mower, attached the collection bag, and much to my husband’s surprise, mowed the lawn. I also called Kat to have her collect coffee grounds from a local coffee shop for me. With a couple of wheelbarrows full of grass, I returned to the compost bins and emptied them both. The coffee grounds would be used later.

Armed with plenty of grass and two empty compost bins, I started rebuilding the compost. I started by adding a layer of brown material to the bottom of the pile. I could just as easily have started with green. Once the brown layer was in place in a 4-6 inch layer, I added a roughly 2 inch layer of grass and kitchen scraps. In order to jumpstart things I also sprinkled on some finished compost along with some blood and bone meal. After each layer was added I wet things down with the hose. Then I continued to fill the compost bin, alternating layers as I went.

Once the bin was full, I piled the remaining materials in and around my overflow area. It wasn’t pretty but I knew I’d be using them soon.

Browns (Carbon)

Any dead plant material
- Leaves
- Wood and wood shavings
- Corn cobs, husks, and stalks
- Flower bouquets
- Dead annuals and perennials
- Vegetable stalks
Paper: bags, newspaper, shredded mail (though not any slick shiny paper)
Pine needles
Straw

Greens (Nitrogen)

Green leaves
Grass clippings
Vegetable waste
Egg shells
Coffee grounds
Rotted manure
Fruit waste
Kitchen scraps
Fresh weeds
Spent grains from brewing

Other

Wood ash – source of lime, potassium, and other trace elements; alkaline

Maintaining the Heap

A few days after rebuilding the compost bin, I returned wielding my compost thermometer. This was a new purchase I made in the spring to help me better manage the compost. I had always wondered why anyone would want to take the temperature of a pile of rotting food until I started watching a couple of British YouTubers. Both Huw Richards and Charles Dowding have talked about managing the temperature of compost, and how if hot enough, it can kill the weed seeds. Where has this tidbit of information been all my life? One of the main reasons I had not previously composted much of our yard waste was because of the weeds. I certainly didn’t want more of them!

Armed with my thermometer, I ran out to the compost to take its temperature. The thermometer I bought is labeled with the different temperature zones for composting. I slid the thermometer into the compost and (not so) patiently watched as the needle crept up and up…through the steady zone, into the active zone, and finally (gasp!) into the hot zone! My efforts had helped increase the temperature of the pile to nearly 140F (60C). This was hot enough to kill any weed seeds that might have gotten into the pile. I was in garden geek heaven!

Composting Temperatures

Steady: 80-100F…decomposition is occurring slowly, compost can be spread onto garden

Active: 100-130F…decomposition is occurring more rapidly, wait for the compost to cool before using

Hot: 130- 160F…most rapid decomposition, kills weed seeds, do not use on garden

Since that amazing day, I’ve worked to maintain the temperature of the compost pile up in the hot range as much as possible. This means I am out flipping the compost from the one wood bin to the other roughly once per week. In that time we’ve sifted the compost twice more, and added quite a bit more material. In fact, I’ve used up all the brown material we had stockpiled at the beginning of the summer.

Flipping the compost adds air into the pile. This in turn revs up the microbes allowing them to work at max capacity and rapidly break down the pile. If you actively work a pile like this, and keep the temperature up, you can turn a cubic yard of waste into usable compost within three months. Some say within a few weeks. Based on what I’ve experienced I would say closer to weeks.

If you don’t have the space to have two bins so you can flip the pile completely, there are compost augers that you can buy. These are essentially large corkscrews which you twist into the pile and pull out in order to stir things up. Whether using the auger, or a pitch fork to turn the pile like I do, you get the added benefit of a nice upper body workout.

Each time I flip the compost I also check the moisture level. While I’m sure there are sensors one can buy, I simply use my five senses. Is there while powder? Then it’s too dry and I add some water. Does it look wet, or smell funky? Then it’s too wet and I need to add some brown material to dry things out. Does it look like nice black, crumbly dirt? Then this is perfect! To be double certain, I grab a handful and squeeze. If it feels damp, and I can maybe squeeze out a drop of water and the compost doesn’t clump together, then it’s perfect.

To remove the finished compost from the larger clumps that are not yet fully broken down, we use a sifting screen we made. Actually they were built to dry our onions and garlic on, but we use one of the smaller ones to sift our compost. We built a frame out of 2x4s and then stapled half inch hardware cloth to the frame. I think we constructed them about ten years ago, and have been using them ever since.

I find the sifting process is easier if I have help. It also goes so much faster. Using a pitchfork, I load up the frame which my husband then shakes back and forth. With our current set up he does this directly into the black compost bin, and then empties the large remaining bits into a wheelbarrow. Previously we had two wheelbarrows in use. We have some great conversations while working the compost together.

Managing the Compost

Flip or aerate the compost every week or so, can be done every 3 days if desired
Sift compost to remove large clumps and use the finished product
Check moisture levels
Take the temperature to help maintain and active pile

Overwintering

Here in Wisconsin, things freeze solid in the winter. As a result, composting looks a bit different. During the winter months, activity in the compost pile will grind to a halt, so there is no need to be checking it and managing it. If you are able to get to the compost bin, you can still add kitchen scraps and any brown materials you have. They’ll just sit there until the spring thaw arrives.

As for the bin of finished compost, it will freeze too. And unless we empty it into the garden beds before winter arrives, we’ll need to wait for it to thaw before we can use it in the garden. Since we’ve never had this much finished compost before, we’ll have to see what we do…but I’m thinking we’ll likely spread it on the beds after we finish harvesting. That way, everything is ready to go in the spring and we can start planting as soon as Mother Nature allows (or maybe even sooner with the help of my new Maxi Garden Hoops).

Here at the Suburban Farmhouse, we move composting indoors during the winter and ramp up our vermicomposting. Having the worm farm in the basement allows us to continue composting all year round.

Storing and Using Your Black Gold

How do I know when the compost is finished? When the microbes are finished feasting, the end product will look dark and crumbly. It will also have an earthy smell to it which often reminds me of the smell of a hardwood forest. The pile will also be reduced in size. Since I’m using the hot composting method, the pile should no longer be producing much heat. (Can you see the steam coming off the compost?)

My hope is that over time we will be able to produce all the compost we need to feed our gardens, possibly with a bit of supplementation every few years. In order to do this, I will need to find a way to store the finished product. Given the amount of compost we’ve already produced this year I’m going to need more storage than just the black compost bin we’ve been using to date.

When storing the finished compost long term several things need to be kept in mind. The main consideration is space. Since I’m in a suburban area, and a great deal of my yard is already devoted to gardens, I don’t have a lot of space to simply let large piles of compost lay around. Likewise, a large pile laying on the ground can easily become a bit of an eyesore, which neither my neighbors nor myself would care for.

Plastic bags are also an option. They would keep the compost damp, without acquiring the excess moisture that an open pile might be prone to. Bags would also keep the finished compost contained and transportable – simply throw a couple in the wheelbarrow and open them where you need them. The downside is that they can easily tear, and critters looking for a warm spot for the winter might decide to make a hole in the bag.

Other options include any large container, such as a garbage can, Rubbermaid bin, or even a secondary compost bin. Long term I’d like to see if we can find space for a third wood bin in addition to the existing bins. It would need to be fitted with more solid sides and a lid in order to contain the compost and keep it from getting too wet.

In the interim though I’ll make use of a large empty Rubbermaid bin we’ve been hanging onto for some reason. It has wheels on the one side which will make it easier to move around the year to wherever I need to add some compost. Added bonus…I can overwinter it in my garage so it’s readily usable in the spring, and I don’t need to spend any money on storage.

Compost Storage Options

On the ground covered with a tarp
Plastic garbage bags
Garbage cans, Rubbermaid bins, or other large containers
A secondary compost bin

Using the Compost

Come spring the garden will need a good feeding of organic matter. All the compost that we are making this year will be prioritized throughout the yard. Most of it will be added to the vegetable and herb gardens by the shovel full, building on the no-dig method that we started this year. Some may be sprinkled around our trees or blended into our potted plants. Moving forward we may also use it in the lawn, in place of the organic fertilizer we buy. And a good portion of it will be used to make our new squash bed using the no dig method I mentioned in the How to Start a New Garden Bed post.